Dead and Gone
by AFH-HHHiii
Summary: After the birth of his daughter, things start getting weird. Astrid claims she keeps seeing a woman everywhere she goes, and Hiccup starts to think she's going insane. That is until he goes to visit his dad to find his "dead" mother standing in the living room.


_**Dead and Gone**_

_**S: After the birth of his daughter, things start getting weird. Astrid claims she keeps seeing a woman everywhere she goes, and Hiccup starts to think she's going insane. That is until he goes to visit his dad to find his "dead" mother standing in the living room. **_

_**Chapter One**_

Astrid was laying in the hospital bed, her hair sprawled out all around her.

Hiccup, her husband, was standing over her, running his fingers through her hair, whispering things to her. He gave her a smile, looking over at the doctor as she carried the wrapped bundle over to them.

Stoick, who had been in the room, got a glance of the bundle as the doctor moved towards the new parents. He gave his son a smile. It was all Stoick had to do to let Hiccup know that he made his father proud. Marrying his high school sweetheart _and _giving him a grandchild? It's all Stoick could talk about before Astrid found out she was pregnant.

Astrid sat up as the doctor got closer, reaching her arms out for her daughter. The doctor gave Astrid a smile, gently handing her the baby "Astrid, meet your daughter."

As tired as she was, Astrid still found it in her to let a few tears fall. She smiled down at her daugher, gently running a finger down the babies delicate face "Hi baby." she couldn't keep the smile off her face as she stared down at her daughter – _her daughter_ – in her arms. She looked up at Hiccup "Do you want to hold her?"

Hiccup nodded. He couldn't find any words. They had been waiting for this moment for nine months. He knew he was going to love this baby with all that he's got, but he didn't realize just _how _much he could love someone he barely knows. He took his daughter from Astrid, moving to sit next to her so they could both look at her.

Hiccup let out a laugh as their daughter opened her eyes and looked up at her father for the first time "She's so beautiful." he whispered. Astrid didn't take her eyes off her as their daughter's eyes moved over to her. Hiccup looked at Astrid "She looks like you."

"She has your eyes."

They heard a snort from the other side of the room "She looks like a baby!"

Hiccup glared over at Ruff, who was sitting in the chair. She had been the one chosen to be the babies godmother, and they had almost forgotten she was there. Ruff had been so quiet up until a few seconds ago. She stood up, walking over to get a closer look at the baby.

She would deny it until the day she days, but she couldn't help but smile at the sight of her best friends baby. Ruff Thorston was far from being a softy, and she would never let anyone else see a side of her like this _except_ Astrid and Hiccup.

"Can I hold her?"

Astrid nodded, taking the baby from Hiccup and slowly handing her to her godmother. Ruff's smile only grew. She could kidnap this baby. She had stopped screaming, and those green eyes were just looking around, trying to figure out where she was.

"What are you two naming her?"

They had almost forgotten about the doctor and Stoick being in the room. Stoick had walked over to Ruff, taking his granddaughter from her. Hiccup knew he was happy to finally have that grandchild that he's been waiting so long for.

He made eye contact with his dad before looking down at Astrid. They had talked about the name for their daughter, it had taken awhile, but they finally decided on one. It was a name Astrid had decided on when he was at work, and when he heard it, he had hugged her. It was a name that meant a lot to both Stoick and Hiccup.

"Valarie."

Stoick looked away from his granddaughter and over at his son and daughter-in-law. His eyes were wide, and he smiled at the two before looking back down at the infant. "Welcome to the world, little Valarie."

Astrid leaned her head against Hiccup's shoulder, smiling at the sight. She closed her eyes, only meaning to rest for a few seconds, but ended up falling asleep. The sound of a baby crying woke her up hours later. She stretched, lifting her arms above her head with a yawn. Right. She's a mother now. She looked around the room, seeing Hiccup now standing over the bed with their daughter in it.

She could get use to seeing this.

"What's wrong, Val?" he mumbled as he lifted the baby and held her close "You hungry?" he glanced over at Astrid, smiling and walking over to her "I didn't realize you were awake."

Astrid reached her arms out "Bring her to me."

Hiccup sat next to Astrid, passing her Valeria. The baby squirmed around, letting out a cry. Astrid frowned. Right. Feed the baby. Breastfeeding. She still hadn't done that yet. What if Valarie doesn't latch? What if she doesn;t want to eat? What if they just don't know what's wrong with their child?

Hiccup could sense Astrid's discomfort. He leaned over, pressing a kiss to her forehead and standing "I'm going to go see if the cafeteria is still open so we can eat."

She gave him a grateful smile as he walked out of the room and out into the hall.

Astrid let out a sigh, taking this as her chance to try and breastfeed her daughter for the first time. "Okay Val, go east here, okay? I don't know what I'm doing."

She adjusted Val and her shirt so Val could freely get to it. She frowned when she wasn't latching. _Of course _this was happening. She groaned, throwing her head back.

"Having problems, dear?"

Astrid looked over at the nurse that stood in the doorway. She looked familiar. Astrid could swear she had seen that face before. She only nodded, staring down at her baby who was starting to cry again.

"I just don't know how to get her to latch."

The nurse walked into the room, setting her clipboard down on the table and moving over to stand next to Astrid "Just relax, dear. It'll be easier if you do. Find a position you're comfortable in, and if you have to, try and tickle her lips with your nipple."

Astrid furrowed her brow but listened. She was a nurse, after all. She had to know what she was talking about. Astrid took a deep breath before adjusting herself, moving carefully so not to disturb Valarie too much. She did what the nurse said and smiled when she latched.

"It worked!" she looked over at the nurse "Thank you! How did you know that?"

The nurse smiled at her, taking a glance at the clipboard to get the young girls name. _Haddock, Astrid_. She froze before shaking her head. "When my son was just a babe he wouldn't latch at first either. It gets easier. She's beautiful, by the way. What did you name her?"

Astrid smiled. She could get use to all these compliments, too. Her daughter was beautiful, wasn't she? She looked down at her daughter "Valarie."

The nurse froze up again, only this time, Astrid noticed. She raised an eyebrow at her. The nurse forced a smile this time, picking her clipboard up "I'm glad I could help you out, dear. Congratulations on the baby. I wish you and your... Husband, the best."

Astrid watched as the nurse rushed out of the room. Well, that was strange.. And _almost _familiar. She can't place where she had seen this women before, but she knows she has.

**00000**

Valarie was only two months old now.

She had blonde hair growing in which made Astrid happy. _"Finally! Some Hofferson genes are coming in!" _she had said when she noticed the blonde.

But Hiccup now as the flu, meaning he can't go to work, or be around Valarie. It made him upset that he couldn't be near his daughter while sick, but he understand that her immune system is still too weak to fight off any illness that gets to her.

So they decided that since Hiccup was too weak to take care of himself, Valeria would be staying with her grandfather. When Hiccup would try and stand, his legs would give out on him. Whats worse is his leg had been bothering him. Astrid made him keep his prosthetic off until his stump was no longer hurting.

Astrid rushed into Stoick's house one afternoon with a bag of Valarie's things and a car seat with the baby in it. She gave him a smile as he happily took both from her "I'm so sorry this is so last minute! You know how Hiccup is. When he gets sick, it gets bad."

"It's not a problem, Astrid. I'm more than willing to watch Valarie anytime."

Astrid let out a sigh of relief "You have no idea how glad I am to hear that." she smiled at Valarie, leaning down and placing a kiss on the babies head "Mommy will be back for you whenever daddy is feeling better, okay? Don't worry too much."

Stoick chuckled. He knew Valarie was going to give him problems. It's her first time being separated from her parents! Any child would find that traumatizing. He _knows_ Hiccup did when his mother left. Valarie was never going to have that problem, though. Her parents weren't going to fight 24/7 though over every little thing.

They were both happy to have Valarie in their lives.

"Go on now, Astrid. I'm sure Hiccup is waiting."

Astrid nodded, getting ready to turn away when a picture on Stoick's wall caught her attention "Who is that?"

He looked over at the picture she was pointing at and let a small smile take over his face "Val. Hiccup's mother."

Astrid clapped her hands together, her eyes getting bigger "Right! Hiccup never talks about her. I _swear _she works at the hospital. A nurse that looks _exactly _like her came into my room when I was first trying to feed Valarie."

Astrid didn't notice when Stoick froze up. She also didn't notice the change in his voice when he started talking again "Oh that's nonsense, Astrid. She's not around anymore. Go take care of Hiccup."

Astrid nodded slowly "Yeah, yeah. Gotta make sure he gets better, and hope I don't get sick." she gave him a smile before kissing Valarie one more time "Be good for grandpa Stoick."

Astrid was out the door in a matter of seconds. Stoick let out a sigh, looking down at Valarie and then walking over to his phone.

He had a frown on his face when the person answered "We need to have a talk."


End file.
